Arnold City Park is open again, at least most of it.
The dog park and playground are still closed.
However, the rest of Arnold City Park reopened Wednesday morning (April 17) after being closed since March 28 because of flooding in parts of the park.
The dog park that’s located in the rear of Arnold City Park will remain closed during the flooding season, Parks and Recreation Director Dickie Brown said.
“We have the potential of repeat flooding,” Brown said. “It (the dog park) will remain closed until after the flood season passes, and then we will access where we are at in the restoration process.”
The playground will remain closed until the ground dries out and the city can replace the mulch under the equipment, he said.
“The wood mulch that is used as a cushion under the various pieces of equipment floated away,” Brown said. “As soon as it is dry enough, we will get it recovered and reopened as soon as we possibly can.”
The park, which is on Bradley Beach Road off Jeffco Boulevard near the Meramec River, was closed four days before the river crested on April 1 in Arnold at nearly 36 feet.
The river was at 29.99 feet in Arnold this afternoon (April 18), which is about 6 feet below the point when moderate flooding occurs in Arnold.
“There is still standing water in spots, but the park is open,” Brown said. “Unless something changes over the next few days, it should remain open. All of the parking areas are fine, but Hollywood Beach Road, which is by the river, is still under water. Bradley Beach is open and accessible at all parts of the park.”
Brown said the decision to reopen the park was made Tuesday (April 16).
While the dog park at Arnold City Park is closed, people may take their dogs to the city’s other dog park, which is at Ferd B. Lang Park on Old Lemay Ferry Road. That dog park opened last December on a 4-acre parcel off Ozark Drive on the southeastern side of the park.
“It is bigger and has a lot more space for dogs to run in,” Brown said. “It is normally dry, except for the rain.”